Meredith Grey

Resident surgeon Meredith Grey has always been a little bit dark and twisty — probably because she was raised by a demanding, workaholic mother: the late Ellis Grey, a famed surgeon. As for other family ties, Meredith is struggling to develop relationships with her estranged father, Thatcher, and her half-sister, Lexie. Meredith went to Dartmouth College (where she drank too much, but graduated anyway) before heading off to medical school. After a series of relationship fumbles (a one-night stand with Derek Shepherd and ill-fated dalliances with George O'Malley and sexy veterinarian Finn Dandridge), she finally settled down and exchanged Post-It vows with Derek. (Yes, their "marriage" is legally tenuous, but it made for an absolutely adorable scene.) In a not-so-McDreamy twist, Meredith miscarried their baby after a gunman invaded Seattle Grace, and now is having a hard time conceiving again because she has a hostile uterus.

Meredith lives with Derek (and a constant rotation of roommates — much to Derek's chagrin) in her childhood home in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood.